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Opinion
Michael Gebicki is Traveller’s expert Tripologist. Each week he tackles the thorny issues in travel as well as answering your questions. Got a question for the Tripologist? Email [email protected]
October 10, 2025 — 5:00am
In 1988, as a young backpacker, I holidayed in a primitive grass hut on the edge of the Red Sea. It was idyllic, but unfortunately long gone. Is there anywhere in the world that offers simple grass hut accommodation with easy beach access, no malaria, good food and is safe for gay travellers?
A. Marchant, Queenscliff, NSW
It’s hard to believe, but Phuket was once like that. However, nearby islands including Koh Yao Noi in Phang Nga Bay is a promising location, with places like Koh Yao Beach Front delivering a winning combination of thatch, beachfront position and cheap prices. Nearby Thiwson Beach Resort is cut from the same cloth, and Sabai Corner Bungalows is yet another contender.
This is Thailand so you can take great food for granted, and the country is known as one of the most LGBTQ-friendly countries in Asia. Off the coast of Cambodia, Koh Rong Sanloem is known for its basic and inexpensive beachfront accommodation. In Mexico, Isla Holbox or Tulum on the Yucatan Peninsula are other possibilities. None of these places have quite the same tranquillity you might have experienced on the Red Sea. The world marches to a different drum beat these days.
We are planning a trip to Vietnam this Christmas. We arrive in Ho Chi Minh City but don’t want to be in the city. Can you suggest somewhere a few hours’ drive – perhaps a town with plenty of restaurants and beautiful scenery – where we could spend Christmas?
J. Stokes, Woollahra, NSW
Dalat, in the relatively cool, moist highlands, fits the bill. It is considerably quieter and more refreshing than busy Ho Chi Minh City, plus it has some fine hotels that evoke its time as a French colonial-era hill town. It’s also a wedding and honeymoon hotspot – love is in the air! Thanks to its altitude Dalat, is a major agricultural zone producing cool-climate fruits, vegetables, flowers, silk, dairy, rice and coffee. It’s also perfect for walks and bike rides. Few travellers would find any reason to spend more than three nights in Dalat but it’s a prime choice for Christmas. A car trip from Ho Chi Minh City will take about six hours, but you can fly there with Vietnam Airlines in less than an hour.
I’m planning a three to four-week trip to Greece and Italy in June-July 2026 with my kids who are aged 14 and 16. We arrive in Catania and spend about 10 nights visiting Mount Etna, Taormina, the Aeolian Islands and finish in Cefalu. From there, we’d head to Milo in Greece plus one other island. We’re less interested in historical monuments, museums and cathedrals, and more keen to experience village life, boating, swimming, local food mixed in with a few adventures.
E. Vaughan, Gerringong, NSW
This sounds like a brilliant trip. Fly into Catania, and I’d normally suggest travellers base themselves in Ortigia, a lovely island packed with baroque architecture linked by a bridge to Syracuse. However one of the main reasons for being here is its proximity to Noto, Ragusa and Modica, three sensational Sicilian towns, but that doesn’t sound like what you’re after, so Taormina would be a better base.
From there you can take a hiking trip up Mount Etna, explore the lava caves, take a boat trip to Isola Bella and go snorkelling and spend evenings as the locals do, wandering Taormina’s piazzas sampling gelato. You could also take the Ferrovia Circumetnea, a narrow-gauge, 110-kilometre railway that runs in a loop around Mount Etna. From there, transfer to Milazzo and take a ferry across to the Aeolian Islands – here, Lipari, which offers easy boat trips and swimming coves, would be my choice for a base. From Lipari you can visit the island of Panarea and mighty Stromboli. I’d skip Cefalu – it only makes sense if you were planning to include Palermo in your itinerary.
Head back to Catania and fly to Milos via Athens. This is another superb choice for your family, with dramatic scenery such as the moonscape waterfront at Sarakiniko, boat trips, tranquil villages and easy hikes plus lots of beaches to explore by boat or land. Ferries from Piraeus to Milos are frequent in high season and Milos has good day-trip options to nearby Kimolos. For your other Greek island, Sifnos is one option, especially if you want great food, hikes and villages with a chilled vibe. It also feels authentically Greek.
Another possibility is Folegandros, which has dramatic clifftop scenery, fewer crowds and fine coves for swimming. If you want somewhere more lively, Naxos rates high for water sports and family-friendly beaches with windsurfing, kayaking and horse riding. Naxos will be more popular with tourists, but it might work better for the teens. June-July will be super busy so you need to book accommodation and ferries well in advance.
My wife and I are planning a stopover in Santiago, Chile, next month. We fly in at about 3pm on day one, then fly out at midnight the next day. What would you suggest we do and see to gain insight into this city? We were thinking of going to Valparaiso the day we fly out. A. Rossimel, Eltham, Vic
Along with its heritage of Spanish colonial churches and neo-Renaissance banks, Santiago brings an artsy vibrancy to the traveller’s table. Bellavista is hipster Santiago, a colourful collage of boutiques, cool cafes, sassy bars and galleries, while Barrio Lastarria is an emerging cool zone, home to some of the city’s grandest public art galleries, with a sprinkling of boutique hotels.
A day trip to Valparaiso is perfect. Sprawled across an amphitheatre of leaping hills, frisked by a sea breeze, Valparaiso is Chile’s cultural cauldron, a hub of creative energy and itchy spirits out to bend the rules. It feels like a Latino Berlin (with added sunshine). Highlights include the spiralling streets of Cerro Alegre and Cerro Concepcion, furnished with a mad tangle of Frenchified manor houses, Swiss-style cottages, turreted mansions and creaking iron shanties with Juliet balconies.
Quirky cafes, bars and art studios are plentiful, and the funicular takes the sting out of the hills. It’s somewhat rough around the edges, so take care around the waterfront. The drive from Santiago takes about 90 minutes.
Travel advice is general; readers should consider their personal circumstances
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